News
Six Die In Kano Blasts
A twin blast that simultaneously rock a Catholic Church and police checkpoint in Kano metropolis yesterday claimed the lives of a soldier, a suicide bomber and four others.
The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Adelanre Shinaba told newsmen in Kano that the attack on Saint Charles’ Catholic Church located at Zungeru Road, Sabon Gari, Kano occurred shortly after the Sunday mass when an object suspected to be Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was thrown at the church from the opposite direction.
Shinaba explained that the impact left a soldier on duty dead, while four others that include a toddler, two women and a man, instantly dead.
The police commissioner disclosed that eight other worshippers sustained various degrees of injury during the attack.
He revealed that three suspects were arrested at the scene of the blast, pointing out that investigation has already commenced to ascertain their level of complicity.
In another attack, yesterday, the police boss further revealed that a 15-year old female suicide bomber blew up herself at a police nipping point leaving five personnel injured.
Shinaba said that the incident occurred at Gidan Murtala by Kofar Nassarawa overhead bridge around 1.00pm, adding that four of the affected officers have been treated and discharged.
The police boss disclosed that two suspects were also arrested in connection with the prime vehicle abandoned at Isyaku Rabiu mosque earlier in the day.
He appealed to the citizens to be extra vigilant and report suspicious movements and persons to security agents for prompt action.
Similarly, a female suicide bomber yesterday, blew herself up outside a university in Kano, after they prevented her from carrying out an attack, injuring five officers, police said.
“A female suicide bomber was isolated as she was walking towards the gate of the university,” said police spokesman, Frank Mba, adding that she had hidden the bomb under her “long black hijab”.
“Police on duty isolated her” because she was behaving strangely, Mba said.
They were about to ask a woman colleague to frisk the woman when she detonated the bomb, killing herself and injuring the five police officers, he said.
However, the Emir of Kano State, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has cancelled Eid festivities marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week after a deadly church bombing and a female suicide bomber’s attempt to attack a university, an official said yesterday.
A statement issued by the Emir reads: “Given the critical situation we are in, the Royal Highness, Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi) has suspended all festivities associated with the eminence, including the Durbar and other traditional events that are held during the Eid festival,” an aide to the emir, Aminu Ado Bayero, told newsmen.
Meanwhile, the Kano State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has exempted medical doctors working in the surgery department of the Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Kano, from the ongoing strike following last Wednesday’s bomb blasts in the state.
This is because majority of those admitted at the hospital in the wake of the attacks suffered serious injuries.
Kano State Chairman of the association, Dr Sharfuddeen Mashi told newsmen that the decision was in line with the position of their national body which resolved that wherever a case of natural or man-made disaster occurred as in the case of a bomb blast, medical doctors in the affected area should suspend action over a specified period to save lives.
He added that similar gesture has been extended to medical doctors at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Kano, and some local government councils in the state as a result of the cholera outbreak in their areas.
“They are exempted from the industrial action so as to attend to patients until such a time when the outbreak has been brought under control”, he added.
Nonetheless, the Kano State Government has announced the outbreak of cholera in a total of 11 local government councils in the state.
Acting Director, Public Health and Disease Control in the Kano State Ministry of Health, Alhaji Tijjani Useni, at a press conference, confirmed the outbreak in the state, saying the disease had killed six persons while about 116 cases have been recorded across the state.
He said the affected local governments, located outside the metropolitan area, are Wudil, Gaya, Sumaila, Tudum Wada, Doguwa, among others.
The official said government has intensified efforts to control the outbreak, adding that they have purchased emergency drugs for the treatment and conducted a rapid assessment of the situation in the high-burden local government councils.
Similarly, five people were Killed after a bomb was thrown into the premises of St. Charles Catholic Church in Sabongari Area of Kano Sunday.
Confirming the incident, Nigeria Police public relations officer, Frank Mba, said an attacker threw the bomb into the church premises soon after the end of the church service.
Meanwhile, vigilant security agents were able to prevent an earlier bombing after noticing the suspicious move of a woman suicide bomber who attempted to detonate bomb at Kofar Nasarawa also in Kano.
According to Kano state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Musa Majiya the woman suicide bomber looked confused while asking for directions from passersby, adding that her suspicious behaviour caught the attention of the security agents.
The suicide bomber lost her life in the process.
Earlier on Sunday, the police had discovered bomb explosives at the second largest Eid prayer ground in Kano.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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